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Marsh Tit (Poecile palurtis)

Id: Small tit with glossy-black cap, small neat bib and plain wings; no wing-bars, and no pale patch on secondaries. Slighter than Willow Tit and less heavy around back of neck. Outer tail feathers longest, so tail may look slightly forked (on Willow Tit central tail feathers are longer than outers, making tail look rounded).

Don’t look for a Marsh Tit in a marsh. Despite the name (and the scientific name), it is a species of broad-leaved woodland – the name originated out of confusion with the Willow Tit. Moreover it particularly favours oak and beech woods, especially those with a generous understorey of holly and other shrubs. It will occur in patches of alder in damp places, but it can normally only tolerate quite extensive stands of trees, with little in the way of tidying and management.

This is a very sedentary bird which, once settled into a territory in young adulthood, never leaves it. Marsh Tits in their first few months of life wander with roaming flocks of other birds, but by the next spring their travels cease. Cold weather doesn’t shift them and neither, it would appear, do vagaries of food supply. They live as pairs in a territory that can be 2.5Ha in extent. When parties of other tits pass through their area the incumbent pair may join them, but leave as soon as they reach their borders.

In common with other tits, the Marsh Tit feeds on invertebrates in spring and summer, and nuts and seeds in winter. Within this generalisation it is actually the most vegetarian of all the species, taking plant material in preference to insect food even when the latter is still available outside the peak breeding season. Many food items are stored for brief periods immediately after discovery, largely to avoid piracy from Blue or Great Tits when the species are foraging in the same area.

The Marsh Tit prefers to use natural holes for nesting, although it can also be persuaded into nest-boxes at times. It is dominant to the Willow Tit where the two co-exist and, once the latter has excavated its nest hole, the Marsh Tit might take it over.